LINDA-FAMILIA

The adverse consequences of infectious diseases, including HIB, hepatitis B, malaria, tuberculosis, syphilis, sepsis, and other poverty-related infectious diseases on pregnant and breastfeeding women and children are well recognised. We aim to scale up the LINDA-FAMILIA eRegistries, an innovative, interoperable, and adaptable open-source digital health information system within the DHIS2 platform (District Health Information Software), replacing paper-based systems in maternal and child health units in the following four regions in East Africa: Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia; Eastern Province, Rwanda; Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; and Lango sub-Region, Uganda. The four regions have varying clinical and digital readiness needs and challenges. The system is designed to strengthen the health systems using 11 digital health interventions which were selected following WHO guidelines. The system will support clinical research by gathering harmonised longitudinal maternal and child data. The system will support epidemiological clinical research such as trialling vaccines at a low cost by using the real-world routinely collected data. This will speed up the production process of effective vaccines, other preventive measures and allow patients to access treatment and interventions and inform the development/improvement of clinical guidelines and health policies. The LINDA-FAMILIA proposal is in line with national digital health strategies in the four countries and the East Africa Digital REACH Initiative. Our proposal addresses the relevant public health short- and mid-term actions of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda 2023, including enabling improved equitable access to essential healthcare and providing the opportunities to create an international research hub and enhance sustainable global scientific collaborations. To achieve the expected impacts, we are partnering with the Ministry of Health in each country and will provide a country-specific LINDA-FAMILIA sustainability strategy.